This disclosure relates to wireless network security systems and methods, and more particularly to systems and methods for using the distributed collaborative intelligence of wireless clients to monitor a wireless network.
Wireless networking has proliferated with the adoption of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards, the availability of license-free spectrum in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and the proliferation of cost-effective wireless networking equipment. The various 802.11 standards developed by the IEEE are available for download via URL: http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html; each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has designated the 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz bands as license-free for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) purposes. Wireless networking manufacturers have introduced cost-effective wireless devices which operate over the ISM bands utilizing the 802.11 standards.
Wireless networks, also known as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), offer a quick and effective extension of a wired network or a standard local area network (LAN). Wireless networks can include components such as wireless access points (APs) and wireless client devices. A wireless AP is a device that can connect wireless communications devices together to form a wireless network. The AP may connect to a wired networks, and can relay data between wireless devices and wired devices. Wireless client devices include laptop, desktop computers, and other computing devices equipped with a wireless capability.
It should be understood that wired networks, or LANs, can use cables to transfer information. Cables can be a controlled medium, protected by the buildings that enclose them. External traffic that enters a wired network can be policed by a firewall and established wired intrusion protection technologies. To gain access to a wired network, a hacker could bypass the physical security of the building or breach the firewall.
In contrast, wireless networks transfer information over the air. The air is an uncontrolled and shared medium—it lacks the equivalent physical security of its wired counterpart. This renders the entire network accessible from areas outside of the physical security of building. Radio signals from a single wireless AP can travel thousands of feet outside of the building. Additionally, wireless devices within the network can sniff all the traffic of all other wireless devices within the same basic service set.
Further, wireless devices are easy to deploy, are relatively inexpensive, and are mobile. Many laptops on the market today are wireless ready. Older laptops can get wireless access by adding a wireless network card and installing software. A stand-alone AP and a wireless card can cost under $100 each. Even well-intentioned employees, consultants, and contractors who install their own wireless stations and APs without regard to proper security configuration requirements can pose a threat to the enterprise. For example, many wireless ready laptops through default configuration permit ad-hoc wireless connections. These connections can readily be hacked at hotspots and other public access networks. Further, the devices connecting to WLANs are mobile and thereby introduce increased exposure to the internal network. For example, wireless devices can come and go in the enterprise, and can be located anywhere within a wireless footprint of the WLAN.
Wireless intrusion protection systems (WIPS) have been developed to monitor and secure wireless networks by identifying rogue wireless networks, detect intruders and impending threats, and enforce wireless network security policies. WIPS can include one or more servers connected through wired or wireless connections to multiple sensors (also known as sniffers) or APs. WIPS can use dedicated sensors or APs to detect attacks/events, performance degradation, and policy compliance. Sensors and APs therefore can be located throughout the wireless network infrastructure to attain coverage for the wireless network activity. Even with multiple sensors and APs, there still may be problems covering all the airwaves because sensors and APs often include single or dual-band radios which scan a single channel at a time. Further, wireless networks may operate in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, thereby incorporating 34 authorized channels.
Wireless networks can include multiple wireless clients (e.g., WLAN cards connected to a computer). There may be one to two orders of magnitude more wireless clients in a wireless network than sensors and APs. Wireless clients communicate to the wireless network when the computer has data to transmit or receive. The wireless device in a computer may be idle (e.g., not transmitting or receiving data) for a significant amount of time.
Some commercially available systems attempt to utilize processor idle time. Such systems include, for example, SETI@Home (University of California, Berkeley, Calif., available at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/). SETI@Home is a computer program configured to operate when a processor is idle or in screen saver mode. The SETI@Home program is configured to connect to a server to receive Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) data, to analyze the data on the processor while the computer is idle, and to send the results back to a server when complete and there is a connection.
The present disclosure provides distributed monitoring of a wireless network using a plurality of wireless client devices in communication with the wireless network.
A method for distributed monitoring a wireless network with a plurality of wireless client devices in communication with the wireless network includes the steps of: directing one or more of a plurality of wireless client devices in communication with a wireless network to monitor the wireless network and collect data corresponding to wireless traffic on the wireless network at a predetermined range of frequencies, and to store the data for analysis; receiving collected data from the plurality of wireless client devices at one or more servers, the servers being configured to accumulate the collected data; storing the received data for analysis; and, analyzing the stored data received from the plurality of wireless client devices so as to identify traffic corresponding to anomalous wireless activity.
A processor based method for monitoring a wireless network using a client equipped with a wireless device includes the steps of: receiving wireless data from the wireless network at a wireless device responsive to an activation condition, the wireless data including wireless traffic transmitted to any receiver, wherein the wireless data is transmitted within a receiver range of the wireless device; analyzing the data to identify relevant data, events, and statistics, wherein the data, events, and statistics being relevant to a security profile associated with the wireless network; logging the relevant data, events, and statistics to a log file located on a local data store; and, sending the log file to a server responsive to the wireless device having an available connection to the server.
A computer system having an intrusion protection system agent includes: a wireless communication interface operable to receive and transmit data on a wireless network; a data store operable to store a log file associated with analysis of the wireless network; and a system processor including one or more processing elements, wherein the system processor is in communication with the system data store and the wireless communication interface and wherein the system processor is programmed or adapted to: access the wireless communication interface to collect wireless data responsive to an activation condition, the wireless data being collected without consideration for the intended recipient of the data; store the collected wireless data in the data store; perform an analysis of the collected wireless data to identify relevant data, events, and statistics, wherein the identified data, events, and statistics are relevant based upon a security profile associated with the wireless network; store a log file associated with the analysis of the collected wireless data; and, alert a centralized server via a network connection based upon the analysis of the information.